John Hutton, the former business secretary and long-standing supporter of the nuclear industry, has rebuffed EDF Energy's offer to become a senior adviser.

He told the Observer he wanted to concentrate on writing three books before seeking private sector employment when he stands down as an MP at the general election.

Nuclear industry insiders said the Labour MP for Barrow-in-Furness may have decided that it was too soon to take a senior role with EDF after having such high-level dealings with it in government. EDF had said that the paid role on its stakeholder advisory panel would have involved him dealing with "strategic issues".

As business secretary last year, he negotiated the £12.5bn sale of state-controlled nuclear generator British Energy to EDF, which put it in pole position to build Britain's first new reactors for more than 20 years. Hutton also galvanised political support for the industry and was instrumental in the government's decision in January 2008 to publicly back the construction of a new generation of reactors.

The French group EDF, which is state-controlled, wanted Hutton to give its UK subsidiary more of a "British identity" and use his knowledge and contacts to help it deal with politicians and regulators. EDF wants to build the UK's first new reactor – to be operational in 2017 – and at least three others.

It is understood that the offer was made two months ago. Had Hutton accepted, he would have needed approval from the independent Advisory Committee on Business Appointments. Negotiations with EDF never reached a detailed stage and Hutton said he did not contact the panel before deciding to turn down the job offer.

Hutton announced he was standing down as defence secretary in June this year for family reasons.

The company said this weekend: "EDF Energy previously confirmed that it was in preliminary discussions with John Hutton MP about joining our stakeholder advisory panel. These discussions were very amicable but we can confirm Mr Hutton is not taking on any role with the company."

Joining the energy industry is a well-worn career path for former energy ministers and politicians, with the nuclear industry a particularly popular destination. Former Labour energy minister Brian Wilson has had a series of directorships with nuclear and other energy companies since leaving the post. Richard Caborn, the former Labour sports minister, became a director of the French-led consortium cleaning up Sellafield two years ago. Former Conservative energy secretary Lord Wakeham was also a director of collapsed energy firm Enron.